Overboost Destiny
by shinmunky123
Summary: Will Van finally eliminate the pilot who killed his love...? Is there something he doesn't know?
1. Learned Lesson

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Armored Core: Overboost Destiny

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Chapter 1: Learned Lesson

Mission Name: Destiny's Override

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Client: Emeraude

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Opponent: Zio Matrix

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Area of Operations: Scissors Forest

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Weather: Rain

**__**

Mission Briefing to AC Einherjar:

_It seems Zio Matrix is trying to put our corporation to an end. Forces have assembled along the mountain range surrounding Kregg Fortress, it's as you well know, our center of operations. It seems Zio is using all of their forces to overwhelm our last line of defense. As a key factor to our success, we are asking you to join our frontline and destroy our rival once and for all. We are giving you a special part for this mission, an inside part called EIP-X/AURA, please equip it prior to engagement._

The Einherjar stands alone in the dense forest. Rain falls down against its hull and down onto the forest floor. It's pilot, Van, looks around the area inside the cockpit. He's strapped into a seat by four belts stretched across his chest bracing the controls. The eye of the Einherjar shines red and the Ac's boosters ignite, sending him flying into the air above the forest canopy. In the distance, several groups of muscle tracers led by armored cores march toward the forest below Van's Ac. 

The Einherjar lands at the edge of the forest, catching the marching enemy's attention. Van grins. A volley of missiles, rockets and bullets shoot out of the troop ahead of him. Van yells, switching on the newly equipped inside part. The Einherjar's vents scattered all across its body begin to open up completely, releasing gas into the area around it. Energy shoots out of the vents, covering the Einherjar in an aura of red energy. The aura seems to invigorate the core, increasing it's mobility, decreasing further damage it receives from both shell and energy weapons, as well as lowering the rate of energy consumption of the Einherjar's boosters. 

"I guess they thought I couldn't do it alone…" Van sneered as he witnessed the ability given to his Ac by the EIP-X/AURA inside part. As the Einherjar boosted toward the enemy, Van's Ac hopped up into the air and came back down, throwing a burst of water up into the air and onto its legs. For a brief moment, the boosters on Einherjar's back and legs dimmed, then grew so immense the ac was hurled toward Van's target. Van grasped the control handles, clenching his teeth.

Van was astonished as he watched his Ac dash across the ground, so fast it started to fly. Even more so when he saw the power of the energy surrounding his core completely destroying a core he tore his Ac into. As Van's core came to a screeching hault, kicking up the earth in front of him, he quickly released the blade from his left arm and swung it around behind him, turning his Ac with it. The energy blade sliced through the head of another enemy, leaving it to fall to its knees completely helpless. The Einherjar lifted its right arm, drawing its gun toward the chest of yet another opponent.

The enemy Ac stared into the Einherjar's scope-eye, holding one of its own rifles toward it. Van noticed the howl of the overboost behind him, and stomped his foot on pedals on the cockpit floor. Einherjar leapt into the air, making the overboosting core that was aiming for Van collide with the other in a tremendous explosion of fire, smoke and electricity. The blast enveloped the area, hiding the Einherjar in a cloud of orange, black and red. 

Van watched his screen, clocks and numbers that is out on the simple interface before him light up. He grasps his controls. Tiny sound signals light up the screen with red boxes and target marks. This was the Einherjar's eyes. The Einherjar's humanoid frame becomes one with Van's thoughts and body. Van hardly looks down at the meters indicating Einherjar's Armor points or ammo, he knows it by heart. He never looks at his controls either, he moves the machine just like he moves his own body. They become an invincible team, and at the same time become a single unstoppable entity.

"Let's try that one again!" Van roared, igniting the Einherjar in a burst of energy and opening the overboosters on the core's back. The overboosters inhaled energy for a short moment, then let out the giant blast of energy to send it flying across the field. Crashing through several Mt units Van noticed a single Ac boosting towards the forest between the field and Kregg Fortress. The Ac was but a cloud of water jumping up from the ground, travelling towards the canopy of the trees. 

Van turned around, using the turn boosters mounted on his Ac's shoulders. Van sighed, noticing he still had quite a number of opponents. Van thought about his choices and made the Einherjar kneel down. The Grenade launcher fell forward, pointing and targeting the group of enemies he had left to take care of before he could chase after the lone Ac. 

Van twisted the cannon to the left, fired, and slowly turned right, launching a spray of grenade rounds into the groups of muscle tracers and armored cores. Luckily enough for Van, the muscle tracers created a roadblock, tripping all of the cores behind them into a cloud of fire, destroying them as well. Van turned around with his turn boosters again, running toward the forest where the Ac had just entered. 

Van watched his monitor as a small signal appeared. 'Incoming message' it said. Van's radio operator Lynn came onto his frequency. "Van, good job so far." She said.

Van narrowed his eyes. "Well I'm not finished yet right?"

"Of course not, but Emeraude is impressed. But even with your skill, they are being cautious with that Ac that entered the forest not too long ago."

"What do you mean, cautious?"

"They are sending in backup for you." Lynn replied hesitantly.

"Why are they being cautious Lynn. Tell me."

"The Ac that just entered the forest is out of our radar, we can't see it." Lynn answered, sounding a bit afraid. "It isn't stealth, I've never heard of anything so advanced it can't be detected. The imagery analysis we achieved for an image of the core is so sketchy, all the Ac's parts are outdated and haven't been seen for a long time."

"…A ghost?"

Be ca-…

"Lynn? Damn, the transmission was cut!" Van yelled. "The weather must have shorted it out." Van stated, shifting his Ac to the side to look behind him as he hears something peculiar.

"What the hell?" Van says, watching as a faint image of an armored core leaps towards him with its blade drawn. The Ac almost seems surreal until its image comes together from its recent haze. It was almost as if the Ac was changing shape, or disappearing. The Ac's blade came down hard and fast. Quickly, Van initiated the inside part and released his energy blade, holding it before Einherjar. The energy blade was glowing with the same red color of its aura, beating with power and surging as the enemy Ac's purple blade collided with it.

Einherjar's frame struggled under the force of the middleweight Ac's configuration. Van hit his Ac's boosters, easing the weight put on Einherjar's legs and giving him more of an advantage against his opponent's immense sword attack. Van recognized his enemy as soon as he got a good picture of him through the waves of energy running across his screen. 

"You're the one who wrecked Old Avalon!" Van yelled, remembering the onslaught his opponent caused at the arena. His opponent had no pilot, it had no purpose, and it was uncontrollable. The two Ac's pushed each other away, leaving their energy blades drawn. 

"You're wrong. It destroyed Old Avalon." The Ac pilot said.

"So there is a pilot… Van uttered.

"It was searching for me…a ghost."

The ghost pilot slashed its blade toward Van, who parried once again. Van lifted his rifle and fired several rounds into the core of the Ac. His opponent grabbed the rifle and crushed the barrel with its grip. The Einherjar twisted the rifle around with one hand and pushed the barrel into the other Ac, pushing it away. Van noticed his enemy had no weapons at all besides the blade. The Ac threw its shoulder into Einherjar and pushed him back, but Van quickly countered by grabbing the rifle with two hands and swatting the Ac in the head with the back of the rifle. The Ac stumbled back and Van dashed forward, only to stop to turn boost as his enemy thrust its blade toward him. Van smacked the batting rifle the Einherjar held against the back of his enemy's left knee, forcing his enemy to kneel.

With a quick jump, Van dodged the leftward slash his enemy threw at him. Then, the ghost pilot pulled his Ac up and twisted it, throwing its fist into Einherjar's core. The impact just knocked the core onto its back, but left Van's enemy with a big advantage. His enemy pulled its arm back, released its sword and swung it back down. The Einherjar quickly reacted, releasing its blade to parry, then igniting its boosters to pull itself off.

Van watched, noticing his Ac was overpowering the other. Einherjar pushed itself forward more and more.

The ghost pilot groaned. "In my age a pilot's skill with his core was what really mattered, I realize it takes cheap tricks to become a formidable opponent now."

Van leered into the Ac's face. He switched his inside part off, decreasing the power of his blade by more than half what it was. Van was being overpowered now through his act of self-confidence, yet he wasn't worried. "Wrong old man, it's more like it was in your day than ever these days." Just then, Van let his hold go. His enemy's blade drove itself into the ground as Van turn boosted and stabbed the Einherjar's blade through the middle of his enemy's core.

"No…" The ghost pilot struggled to say.

"Sorry, but nowadays it just takes a stronger connection between the pilot and the weapon to persevere."

The Einherjar stepped back, its blade already withdrawn. Van's enemy fell onto its back, motionless. It was over. Van noticed the incoming transmission message.

"Don't…repeat my mistake. You've…changed it…all…you can stop now."

"V-Van? Van! What happened, the screen went blank ever since you stopped. Did you find the Ac?" Lynn yelled, her voice breaking up through the intercom.

"…Yeah I got it." Van replied quietly.

"Isn't that…?" Lynn said, examining the Ac lying on its back before the Einherjar.

Van looked up at the sky. The rain had stopped, and the clouds began to break apart. Sunlight poured through the sky, glaring into the sensors of the Einherjar. "Yeah…it was him."

"Come home…"

The war between the corporations ends soon, Zio Matrix's last ditch effort to destroy its opponent Emeraude failed miserably. The last few Ravens were all that remained of corporations, as the Earth and Mars governments created an alliance among Ravens to destroy the corporations and bring peace to the planets. The alliance between the dozen Ravens was simply known as the Alliance. Van was quickly offered a spot at the top of the Alliance Faction, but he refused. Van would not end up like his enemy, he changed it all, and stopped. He decided to escape to North End and veer away from his reputation. He escaped to change his life. He walked away from being a Raven, yet he still keeps Einherjar at his side. Ready. 

To be continued…


	2. Homecoming

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Armored Core: Overboost Destiny

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Chapter 2: Homecoming

You have Mail-

[Request]

It has been a long time Raven. I hope your permanent vacation has been a pleasant one. Considering the following, I doubt you will want to stay. The _Alliance_ supposedly destroyed a transport ship on its way to deliver supplies to Rapture space station. Every member of the Alliance was said to be seen, yet no order was given by either planet's government or military to do so. Van, your presence is requested by Nerves Concord, we cannot allow another interplanetary war to arise through ambitions and false accusations. Please re-initiate communication with us. For Earth.

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Mail to Lynn-

Nobody should have said the war was over. As long as there are Ravens, there will be war. I bet the Alliance was conned by one of two things, one of the governments, or a new corporation that's coming out of the woodwork. Either way, they plan to take control of the only thing that can change things, Ravens. Something is not right here, lets get to the bottom of this before Earth and Mars start pointing fingers.

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[…I'm back]

Van closed the lid to the laptop that was built in to his cockpit. His chair was turned to the right to use the laptop. The laptop allowed him to send and receive mail, order parts and fix small complications. Van contemplated his quest back to the mainland. Crossing the ocean would not be an easy task. Especially without a transport ship to take the Einherjar over the water.

Boosting over the Ocean would be too risky. Moving under the ocean wouldn't be any safer. 'Shallow' water would be my only bet, he thought. He'd have to find shallow areas and hop from one to the next. 

The Einherjar walks across the sands of a frozen beach. The sand was icy and white, glimmering in the sunlight pouring down on the area through a cloudy sky. Van surveyed the mapping system on the cockpit window screen. The elevation of the land around him could easily tell him his next destination to land on. If it was too far, he'd have to limit release and overboost as far as he can. If he fails in landing on a shallow ground, he might not make it back up from the ocean depths. 

"Why would they send me a transport ship when I can safely walk across water with an Ac that weighs tons. I can't fly…wait yeah I can!" Van yelled. He realized the EIP-X/AURA part could power the Einherjar with energy, and he might just be able to make it across the ocean with its power. Van turned his chair to his laptop, ran a few tests on how far this feature would enable him to go…and when the answer appeared on the screen, a smile stretched across Van's face. 

Van turned back to his controls, switched on the inside part and closed off all the vents besides his overboost boosters. The Einherjar absorbed energy, then in a quick moment it was launched through the air in a red haze of energy, pushing it into the distance. 

Scissors forest was just as he remembered it. It was thick with vegetation, beautiful in its own sense, and rainy just as it was the last time he was there. He moved the Einherjar across the canopy, boosting over it without the help of the exhausted AURA part. Van was familiar with the area now that he came close to the outskirts of the forest. It had been two years since he fought the ghost…two years since the war has ended and a time of peace had come. It has been two years of solitude on the Northeast Glacier…and two years away from being a Raven for Van. He still feels at home in Einherjar, but that has never changed.

"There it is…" Van whispered as he examined the ghost pilot's Ac just as it was when he left. Its paint had been rusted and the entire frame was tarnished. Van grew curious, was this pilot really a ghost?

The Einherjar landed next to the Ac and knelt down next to its side. The lower front of the Einherjar's core opened up, and Van stepped out of the cockpit, holding the top of the doorway outside. He looked at the colossal Ac, as a nice breeze blew across his neck. He stretched his hand out, opening his palm to feel the slight haze of rain touch his fingers. Van leapt from the cockpit door of the Einherjar to the front of the Ac's leg, close and accessible to where Van had landed.

The door of the cockpit opened, smoke crawled out from the sides of the door and sunlight poured into the room. Van held himself up on the edges of the door, looking into the cockpit. A human figure laid dead in the pilot's chair. Decayed…more than two years away. Van looked at the wall inside the cockpit, noticing a small screen. It said, 'Eight-ball pilot Hustler One…systems damaged…return to base.'

Van leaned against the cockpit doorway, watching the Ac he had pushed into the ocean being pulled underwater. Van took the cannon the Ac had and stuck the broken end of it into the Cliff beside the water. A fitting burial for a lost Raven, setting him out to see to drift into the afterlife.

Kregg Fortress was a little run down. It lost its pretty blue motif and had rusted away just as much as Eight ball had. Van entered by ramming into the two metal doors between two separate wings of the building. After the battle, Emeraude left their last stand and everyone attempted to return home. The Alliance was originally planned to destroy both the corporations. When Emeraude took out Zio Matrix, the other Corporations had fallen pretty fast due to repeated attacks by anonymous Ravens. This was the Alliance.

When Emeraude was the only one left, the Alliance become known and destroyed every main player in the corporation. Van wasn't considered one since his identity had always been kept a secret, Emeraude didn't want one of their best Ravens to be known about. Even with his reputation, Van wasn't trusted. 

The Einherjar walked about the dark ruins of the fortress. Cracks in the ceiling and walls were pouring water in like a waterfall. The floor was covered in water as deep as a lake. The feet of Van's Ac pushed the water aside as they hit the ground. Van turned into a room with several large computers. Using the finger of the Einherjar, Van pressed a button on one of the screens, showing a list of letters and numbers. 

This was a transmission number. When the war had ended, all the transmission codes to contact the corporations or organizations were changed. When Van had left, he hadn't replaced the codes to keep in contact with Lynn or anyone else through radio transmission. Of course, mail could have been an option but Nerves Concord doesn't allow personal mails to be sent. Privacy issues.

"2…4…G…I…9…E! There!" Van said, inputting the codes onto his laptop. A box appeared on his screen. 'Initiating re-establishment of communication.'

"Lynn…It's Van do you read?" Van said, watching for a signal on the screen. "Lynn are you there?" He asked again. Nothing was said. He sighed, leaning back in his chair.

"Van…?" Lynn said softly. "Van!"

"Nice to hear your voice Lynn." Van replied. He smiled.

"Oh my god…Van! Van it is you!" Lynn said ecstatically. "I can't believe it."

"Well, I'm happy to hear from you too. How's life?" Van asked, seriously interested in how she has been. See, Lynn and Van had been a team since he first became a Raven. As he grew through the ranks, she rose with him and they both requested to work with each other every time they were split. All this and they've only met once.

"I've been helping Nerves Concord on this Alliance investigation. I'm a member of the Neo Isaac BOC now. I help with city ordinances and the like," Lynn said. "How was your hermit lifestyle going? What did you do?"

Van was surprised, she went pretty far in the two years he hadn't heard from her. He was proud. "Congratulations. Actually…the two years was more like a physical and spiritual training period. It feels like my physical strength has an impact on Einherjar's."

"Physical…" Lynn thought. "Oh, a lot of studies say that that is true. One's physical power does seem to have an effect." Lynn stated, her mind wandering a little.

"It's nice and quite up there. I think I'll shudder the next bullet I hear fired off. I'm too used to silence." Van said, closing his eyes.

"Silence is good…it is hard to stay with these days. I see why you left. Even in this time of peace we still have so many problems. But it is just easier to walk away than deal with them." Lynn said, getting slightly offensive.

Van raised a brow, opening his eyes and looking at the screen. "Huh?"

"You know, we needed you! You could've prevented this whole ordeal before any of it even started! We've always worked together, and then all of a sudden you run away! I was left alone Van!" Lynn yelled, bringing all her anger out that she had kept in these two years. She missed him, she didn't want him to go. She felt so betrayed by his sudden change of personality. She felt he was running from her.

"Well the first notice I got from you I came back didn't I?"

"Yes but…it's the principle of the thing. You left Van. Why did you leave?" Lynn said.

Van sighed. "I had left for personal reasons."

Lynn groaned. "Why won't you tell me?"

Van shook his head. "Fine. The last pilot I faced wasn't a ghost. He was real. He told me to stop, I did what I wanted to do and I need to stop before I end up like him. If you only saw him Lynn."

"So that's what happened…" Lynn realized.

Van nodded. "I felt he was right. I was afraid to continue…it was hard to come back to Lynn. But, I came back for you."

They talked for hours afterward. They had strong feelings for each other, yet neither one of them could admit it. They were an inseparable team. Their first meeting was the first time they realized they felt that way. Van had been assigned to protect the Neo Isaac BOC Headquarters, and a group of Acs has come to attack it. Lynn was in that building that day, working on getting information from Neo Isaac for another mission. Van took the Acs down, but then their leader showed up. Equipped with a giant laser cannon, the Ac tore a hole through Van's old armored core. If Van hadn't diverted the attack, the building would have been destroyed, and Lynn dead. The next day…Lynn had a present for Van from Neo Isaac.

Van had journeyed to the super highway connecting the major cities of the main continent. Sooner than he expected, he ended up where his real adventure began. The Einherjar stood in a test room. Pathways with glass ceilings and walls connected a central building with four pillars near the corners of the room. Van looked around. This was the place he first piloted Einherjar. For saving Neo Isaac and sacrificing his Ac, Van was given Einherjar as a gift. Fully equipped with a new head part, a new leg part, new extensions and an all new lightweight grenade launcher. All from Emeraude, his main beneficiary. The Einherjar was specifically designed for van's style…just as Lynn saw fit.

The start of his journey…the end of the beginning


	3. Scrap Metal Jacket

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Armored Core: Overboost Destiny

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Chapter 3: Scrap Metal Jacket

You have Mail- 

The Alliance has been in and out of the city for the past week. Seems they've had some business in the warehouse east of block S. I hear a certain syndicate operates there, one that has potential to become a world known corporation. They are making deals at a quick pace. The syndicate has hired them to attack supply depots and transports for the parts on board. What are they getting in return? I want your help to figure that out. Head to the warehouse and I'll make contact with you there. Don't be noticed.

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[Anonymous]

Lynn read the mail over and over. "It could be a trap." She said.

Van looked at the mail as well. He sat in his chair as usual, but with his feet kicked up and back leaned back. He rubbed his fingers through his black roots, and pulled them up into the red ends, brushing them down over his face. "That is what I thought, but the whoever wrote it put it down seems familiar."

"They say that they will be at the warehouse, how do they know when you will be there?" Lynn noted, pointing her finger at sentences of the mail.

"Maybe he is waiting." Van replied. "He must have been hanging around there for quite awhile unnoticed, he knows a lot."

Lynn nodded, holding her earphone closer to her ear. "Just take it easy, and don't be noticed like they said."

The Einherjar, with its back against a wall, slowly turned around the corner of an arms depot, looking at the corner of the warehouse. A line of windows was at the middle of the building, lit with a yellow light. Van looked into it, blending the Einherjar's dark gray scheme with a large shadow cast by the arms depot. The city was a lot darker than he remembered at night. 

"Raven…I see you decided to join me." A female voice said. 

Van jumped when he heard it. He narrowed his eyes. "A Lady?"

The woman laughed. "Yeah that is what I'm called lately."

Van looked at the transmission box noticing this wasn't a normal transmission. "You are using a cellular phone?"

"Yes, kind of. Head behind the arms depot." She commanded. The Einherjar shifted around and walked behind the depot. Van looked around, waiting for her to continue. "You just take orders like that from anybody?"

Van groaned. "Only from someone that could be leading me into a trap. I seem to fight better when I have a lot of problems."

"Good…because we have plenty. First off, switch to your thermal scope and look about six meters to your right." She said.

Van flipped a few switches and turned the head of the Einherjar toward a large red and yellow spectrum on his radar. It was an armored core. "You are a Raven?"

"Indeed, well known to. The name is Valkyrie." Valkyrie said, introducing herself.

Van switched off the thermal scope and noticed her Ac's sniper rifle slightly extended from a crack in the wall of another warehouse. "I'm Van."

"I know, but it is nice to finally meet you. I've been waiting to meet someone of your mission standard. I've spent a lot of time in the Arena." Valkyrie had this sort of confidence a lot of people don't have. She was confident in her skills, but she knew what her weaknesses were. She considered knowing her weaknesses strength to strengthen. Van has seen her fight. It has always been fair, and has always been executed with perfect shots.

"You're fights are a sight to see." Van complimented.

"Well thank you, your mission outcomes are a sight to see as well. It'll be an experience working with you, if you would like to that is." She asked.

Van nodded. "I would."

"Thanks. As you know, the Alliance has been meeting in that warehouse directly in front of me. I've been positioned here for the last eight days watching them." She explained. Eight days was a long time to watch a building, Van thought. "In a half of an hour, the Alliance will show up. At this point, I'll use a new little item of mine to put us in stealth mode so they won't pick us up, regardless of their radar equipment. I want you to infiltrate the warehouse and get closer inside. I have trouble against two opponents, three of the Alliance members have come each time. I'm using a cell phone so they won't pick up the transmission by the way."

"Alright…so I have to get in there and find out what these guys are really doing. Then what?" Van asked.

"After you hear their main objective, I want you to plant a bomb I want you to carry in somewhere where I can hit it. Get out of there and tell me when. That is that." She finished.

Van knew there would have to be complications inside. "What if something goes wrong? What if I get trapped?"

"Then our little act of heroism is over…there is a stronger force than any Raven you've ever heard of or seen being conceived here, I can feel it. The entrance is in the back. Take the parts under that tarp by your feet." Valkyrie said, watching the Einherjar tossing the tarp off the parts.

Van Held the small bomb in his left hand, slipping it into his inside part slots behind the head of Einherjar on its core. The other part was a pair of stealth wing extensions. Van dropped his turn boosters by dropping them into his hands, and quietly setting them down. He equipped the wings and turned them on, they shifted open and started glowing with purple energy.

The Einherjar stood against a wall inside the warehouse. A small window looked inside the biggest room in the warehouse. People stood around carts, assembly lines and crates. Three cores stood motionless, their pilots standing with one of the people. The people all crowded around a large crate, the size of an Ac part. Turns out, it was. Van watched as the syndicate members showed the pilots these new parts one by one. A new type of core with an operation different than the overboost, laser swords, solid shields, boosters, extensions, then a complete Ac prototype. It was fitted with a laser sword held in the hand and used like a normal sword, a solid shield, pursuit missile extensions, stealth wings with built in boosters, boosters that resembles an overboost booster. It was uncanny. Van could barely believe the extent these people went to in their research. 

"So the Alliance is taking part in the production of black market armored core parts. Time to burn these matches." Van said. Just then, the stealth wings on his Ac shorted out. Something happened, the wings failed to continue to work as Van repeatedly pressed the extension switch. He had to get them working before someone noticed his presence. Or did he.

The members started to run all over the place and the three pilots ran back to their cores. It was too late. Too late to run, too late to hide. "Oh well." Van said, opening the doors to go inside the warehouse room.

Van knew the Ac's well. The first one, a red heavyweight bipedal was Iron-Heart. The second, a reverse jointed green Ac called Lich. Lastly, a lightweight bipedal blader known as Dust. They were nothing.

The Einherjar dashed above the warehouse floor, firing a hail of rifle shots onto Iron-Heart, canceling him from firing his bazooka. The Einherjar fell in front of Lich. Van slashed the core of Lich, pushing it back into a wall, then slashed it again, taking off the bottom of its legs. 

Dust's machinegun fire hit the Einherjar's stealth extensions, shooting them off to the floor. Van lifted his rifle, firing back at Dust and kneeling at the same time. The grenade launcher fell forward and blasted the head of the green Ac off completely, leaving its pilot incapacitated.

The rifle shots stunned Dust. Dust roared frustratingly and strafed across the room. Van boosted back, turning to both of his remaining opponents. A bazooka round fired off to where Van had previously been. 

"Well, took you long enough to join the fight again!" Van yelled, charging his way through the bazooka fire that continuously missed the Einherjar. Van released his blade, hit the inside part ignition for the AURA and stabbed his energy blade through the shield of Iron-Heart, causing a chain reaction of explosions that tore the arm right off and shot the Ac to its right, causing it to collide with the wall.

As pieces of the wall fell, the prototype Ac stood slowly. Dust stood between the Einherjar and the prototype, but only before the Ac slashed its way through him. Van dashed back, firing his rifle at the prototype. No use, it blocked the shots with its shield. Van roared, hitting the AURA switch again and hitting his overboost. Einherjar lit up with a red aura and charged itself into the Ac. The Ac lifted its shield toward the Einherjar, sheathing its sword in its leg before to use both arms. Energy clashed and pieces of the warehouse fell apart as the Ac's boosters started to grow and grow.

Outside, Valkyrie started to head into the warehouse. She stopped, watching as the roof of the warehouse jumped out and the Einherjar was being pushed into the air by the prototype. They flew through the air, the Ac's multiple overboost easily overpowering the EIP-X/AURA part's ability. Valkyrie dropped her stealth wings, equipped Einherjar's turn boosters and overboosted into the sky after them.

The Einherjar struggled to holds it ground against the prototypes quick and abundant series of slashes and attacks. Van had fought him in the air, and now he was struggling to stand on the edge of the Colnart coast. They had traveled quite a ways away. Van was confused and hopeless. He couldn't do anything to overpower this thing. It was a monster. 

Van noticed the parts were still shaky on the prototype. It was weak still. The frame looked like some of the cheapest versions of parts he'd ever seen. The pilot must be extremely experienced. Sniper shots hit the back of the Ac's head. Valkyrie boosted down to the ground, charging toward the back of the Ac. The Ac pushed its shield into Einherjar and slashed a projectile energy wave with its sword at Valkyrie. Valkyrie strafed, still getting the left leg of her Ac gashed open. 

Valkyrie fell to the ground, still firing rounds into the Ac's back as it turned towards Van. Van watched his sensors. He was fighting back…and he realized the Einherjar was as well. He needed his turn boosters, that way he could make the prototype lose its balance. Van noticed his turn boosters equipped to Valkyrie's Ac. She slowly stood, but her leg crumbled as she did.

Van boosted up, causing the Ac to stumble. The Einherjar's leg rose and stomped the laser sword into the ground, along with the Ac's right hand. Van pushed the end of his rifle into the Ac's left shoulder joint, lifting the Einherjar up higher. It now stood on the prototype core, forcing it down onto the ground. Van had disabled its sword, but its pursuit missiles were still there. Van hit his inside switch and dropped the bomb the Valkyrie had given him onto the Ac's core as it activated its missiles. He then hit the AURA switch and turned, overboosting toward the cliff between them and the ocean as the pursuit missiles followed him close behind. Van had lured all of the missiles towards him away from the Valkyrie, dancing about the area.

Valkyrie boosted into the sky, her broken leg part dropping onto the ground as she got into the air. She aimed her sniper rifle and fired, replacing where the Ac was with a large smoking crater of metal, dirt and fire. Valkyrie's Ac fell to the ground shortly after, completely motionless. Valkyrie looked at the Einherjar boosting towards the ocean. A single missile hazed its shoulder and sent Van tumbling down the cliff's edge. The rest of the missiles followed. The last thing Valkyrie saw as she started to go unconscious was an explosion rising from the edge of the cliff. The missiles hit their target…


	4. Deja Vu'

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Wooblies

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Armored Core: Overboost Destiny

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Chapter 4: Déjà vu'

"Van…van wake up!" Lynn said, nudging Van to wake up. Van opened his eyes slowly, seeing a bright light. He saw a faint image of Lynn's face and leaned forward in his chair. He looked around the cockpit, a missile had been lodged in the wall, pointing directly at him. An aching pain wrapped around his body. He grasped his ribs, breathing heavily. He groaned, looking at the large slash in his side. Lynn wasn't there.

"Damn!" Van mumbled. He panted, looking at the screen. 

'System inoperable, shutting down main hub in 3…2…1…' The screen went black. Einherjar's voice was muffled, but Van still understood. It said, 'Pilot damage confirmed, checking backup energy system…system ready in three minutes.' It was helping him without his command. 

"Thanks Ein…" Van said. Soon, the display screen came back on. The Einherjar's generator started to run again, and its systems lighted up on the screen. Van sighed, trying not to yell due to the pain. It was unbearable. Van checked the system status. Damage to the right shoulder, core hull breached, boosters inhaled sand and other problems were listed on the screen. Besides a few dents, scratches and a missile lodged in its core slowing it down slightly, the Einherjar was running fine.

The Einherjar stood slowly, and Van looked around him at the missiles that luckily missed him. They were scattered around the beach in front of the cliff. Van hit his boosters on several times to inhale some air to clean out the sand inside. He didn't want sand melted onto them, just so they can scratch it up the next time he uses them. He boosted up to the top of the cliff, noticing Valkyrie's Ac crumbled on the ground, and the prototype broken in a crater. He boosted over to the Valkyrie and leapt out of the cockpit to get into Valkyrie's. He looked inside, sparks blazing and systems shutting on and off rapidly. Valkyrie was thrown from her chair, sitting behind it with her back and head against the wall. Van crawled down to her side, noticing her white hair and blood covered skin. He looked at the gash in her forehead, lifting her up and carrying her back to the Einherjar. 

The Einherjar boosted back towards Eyelet City towards the hospital. "Lynn do you read!"

"I'm here, you signal had been lost the past two hours, what happened?" She asked.

"I took the offer, Ein's busted up and Valkyrie doesn't have much of an Ac anymore. Looks like we got them though." Van replied, hurrying to the city's edge.

"Valkyrie was the sender?"

Van nodded, heading deeper into the city. "Yeah, I'm taking her to the hospital." Van said, groaning loudly as he pulled the controls back to lower the Ac.

Lynn gasped. "Van what about you?" 

Van still groaned. "Oh, I'm fine."

"Are you hurt?" Lynn asked.

Van closed in on the hospital. "Well, I can see the missile that is lodged in Einherjar's core."

Lynn shook. "My god!"

Van opened his eyes. He laid on a white hospital bed in the same room as Valkyrie. He turned his head, looking out the window at Einherjar's core. It was back to normal. Lynn had come by, she took it to the shop. Valkyrie had a serious head injury, but she turned out fine. The other night they had been resting and Valkyrie had asked, "Why did you come back?"

Van stared off into space when she asked him, thinking of one thing. And then he answered soon after, "Someone I needed."

That morning, Lynn had to file the paperwork and tell the bureau of control what was going on. She was still there. When he awoke.

Van leaned forward, the white bandaged wrapped around his waist stretching against him, tightening against his wound. Valkyrie looked over at him. "Good morning."

Van sighed, scratching the bandages. "Morning Val…"

Lynn stood opposite several people. They had been asking her questions on the Alliances intentions for hours now.

"It seems clear that the alliance was cooperating with an underground faction, in fact I have reports that indicate each member had visited the warehouse on several occasions over the period of one week, and as they left they were followed by a supply transport." Lynn stated.

"So they had been coerced? Or were they actually involved. What was this syndicate?" A member of the BOC committee asked.

"Well, the syndicate is known as Zion. Originated by a Martian Raven by the name of Cluse, they have attacked Earth supply shipments and the like since the beginning. Cluse is a close ally to the Alliance leader Rolfen." Lynn answered.

A soldier stepped into the small circular room. "Excuse me Chief Herald!" The soldier said. The chief member nodded in reply. "Sir, the Alliance has entered our territory and is headed this way without permission, sir!"

"Call on all of our defenses and contact the Alliance for an explanation!"

Van stood, pressing his hands into the window. Valkyrie stood slowly, as if she was testing out her stability. "You should sit." Van implied.

Valkyrie smiled. "Hey I know what I am doing, I'm fine." She said, walking out the room door.

Van looked over at the chair next to his bed where his clothes were. He looked down, brushing off his pants. He walked over and started putting things back on. 

"Where are you going?" Valkyrie asked.

"Visiting." Van replied.

The hospital shook. An Ac had landed nearby. Van rushed out the door, Valkyrie soon followed. 

Outside, an orange lightweight composed of entirely new parts watched the Einherjar, slowly advancing towards it with a machinegun ready. Van ran across the street toward the front of the Einherjar. The Ac started to fire its machinegun towards him. A flurry of sparks and bullets ricocheting followed Van until Einherjar's back guarded him. Van jumped into the cockpit, still hearing gunfire, but not hitting Einherjar. As he started to turn the system on, the cockpit door flew open and Valkyrie jumped inside, closing the hatch behind her.

"What are you doing!" Van yelled, quickly getting Einherjar on its feet.

Valkyrie yelled towards Van, but he couldn't hear her over the sound of gunfire. Valkyrie hurried over to him. The noise cancel system turned on, the cockpit was quiet. Valkyrie sat behind him, opening his laptop. "I'm going to help in any way I can!

"How?" Van asked, turn boosting Einherjar around.

"Research!" She said.

The other Ac had sent a transmission. "Nice to see you decided to face me like a man Yavangel…this is my new armored core, Hyperion."

Van looked at his opponent, releasing his blade and charging towards him. "This is the last face you'll see!" Van roared as the Einherjar sent its blade across the Hyperion's core. At the same time, Van fired his rifle into the Ac's arm, stunning it from firing back. The Ac released its shield and Van retreated back, hitting the AURA switch and throwing his blade out in an energy wave towards Hyperion. The impact threw Hyperion onto its back. Van walked the Einherjar to Hyperion's legs and slashed off below its ankles, below its knees and cut its hip hinges. 

"Hey Hyperion…that's for shooting at me before I was even inside. This is for her too." Van said, thrusting his energy blade into the eyes of his opponent's Ac as he walked over it.

"I found out the other two cores that entered the city…but who is Yavangel?" Valkyrie asked, looking over at him.

"Yavangel is my full name." Van revealed, walking the Einherjar through the street, leaving his opponent in his wake.

"Oh, makes sense. I got information on what is going on in the city, seems Cluse and Revolver headed for the BOC main district building. Isn't that where your friend went?" Valkyrie asked.

Van's eyes lit up. He quickly hit the overboost switch and sent the Einherjar flying for the district building. The situation was familiar, too familiar for Van to stay calm. He remembered boosting his old Ac in front of the building in Neo Isaac. He remembered watching the beam of energy fly directly at him. The feeling, he remembered, of his body being pushed all around constantly with no rest. Van's hands shook the controls. Valkyrie noticed quickly and tried calming him down by putting her palm against his shoulder. Van glanced at her hand, gritting his teeth and looking at his screen.

"This cannot happen again, I have to defeat them both before they even have the chance of destroying that building." Van declared, grasping the controls and boosting the Einherjar all over the city, heading for the central area.

As the Einherjar drew close, Cluse and Revolver Overboosted in a cross formation in front of him. The Einherjar halted, raising its rifle and extending its blade. 

"Incredible!" Valkyrie shouted. "I just got all the information we need to defeat these fools." Valkyrie continued, telling Van about his opponents.

Cluse was an ex-fighter pilot, and a good one at that. His hover Ac 'Kilos" supports his skills. It has a laser blade, a machinegun, multi-missiles and pursuit missile extensions with an added vertical missile launcher on its back. His ally Revolver is a highly regarded marksman. His Ac "Point Blank" was equipped with a sniper rifle, a rifle and orbit cannons on its back. 

Cluse laughed in a transmission. As it ended, Kilos turned around and headed further toward the center. Van stepped forward and Point Blank fell down in front of him. The Einherjar boosted backwards and Van cut his energy blade toward Revolver. Revolver retreated, whipping his rifles forward and firing, knocking Einherjar back with a barrage of gunfire. Revolver turned, putting its back to a wall to hide. Van heard helicopters and muscle tracers heading their way. 

"Damn! These cores could have destroyed this entire city and the backup is barely even here yet!" Van yelled, moving Einherjar to the top of the building Revolver hid behind. Revolver turned around the corner, aiming his rifles at a long narrow street. The buildings on each side of the road went all the way to the ceiling of the underground city. Revolver looked down, noticing an orange energy blade sticking out of its leg. Revolver raised its arms, pointing its rifles into Einherjar's face. Point Blank fired, knocking the sight sensors of the Einherjar around inside its cockpit. Van struggled, getting frustrated. Einherjar withdrew its blade, leapt back into the air and lowered its grenade launcher, firing several rounds directly into the core of point blank.

The core was drove into the street below it, its legs snapping off under the weight of the grenades' impact. Van clenched his teeth together. "I won't let this happen again!"

By now Cluse was near the building. He laughed once again, activating his vertical, pursuit and multi-missile launchers. His target of course was the district building. The core howled with power as a volley of the three types of missiles jumped out of Kilos' shoulders and back. The missiles formed a sweet and destructive dance with white tails of smoke behind them that dissipated into the air. 

"I will destroy every government faction until we are truly at peace! Every last Ac will crumble in Kilos' hand! Hear me now Earth, your reign of terror will end! We will be free at last!" Cluse yelled, watching as the missiles her launched hit the base of the district building. The building collapsed, falling into itself and becoming brown smoke and dust, crawling out over the streets and below Kilos' hover legs. Cluse watched with delight, switching his radar to biological life. There were a few survivors…

Cluse raised his machinegun towards the rubble. He looked around, looking at the wall of buildings around the district, the doorway behind him that he could no longer escape from, and the shaft above the district buildings remains that leads to the surface in a series of windows. He fired his machinegun along the wall of buildings, blowing the windows out of the half-evacuated buildings. He then fired among the rubble to make sure nobody survived the bombing. 

Just then…an Overboost's howl closed in on Cluse. 


	5. Dragon Hunting

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Armored Core: Overboost Destiny

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Chapter 5: Dragon Hunting

A howl, a high pitched, screeching howl of fury. Leading right into darkness, directly into chaos. This was Van's destination. Uncertainty was at its peak, anger and frustration will not make him weak. Like Van stated before, he seems to fight better when he has a lot of problems. Currently, there are too many problems to count. If only there was more time, he thought. Van's teeth hurt from biting against one another, his face was wet with tears of fright, and his muscles ached from growing tense. Valkyrie watched as a combination of tears and sweat crawled down the side of his face. Valkyrie couldn't help but do the same…

Cluse continued his reign of terror, destroying the buildings and firing on helpless people trying to escape. Muscle tracers had surrounded him, but with a few missiles from Kilos, they were turned to scrap. Cluse, sitting in his cockpit as comfortable as ever, leaning back with his feet kicked up on the controls looks over at his radar to find a single moving object flying towards him at incredible speeds. He lowered his feet, watching the red dot collide into the center of the radar. Cluse was thrown into the controls as the cockpit shook tremendously. 

The Einherjar Overboosted into Kilos with a furious red illuminated aura. The ground around the Einherjar shook and crumbled under its power. Einherjar's turn boosters shot out, turning them around. Van's armored core pushed Kilos through the street, leaving trails of busted rock under Ein's feet. Soon after, Van pushed his controls forward to push Kilos into a solid wall, even after impact. The strength of the Ac toppled Kilos, whose pilot just now got back into his chair. As Van pushed Cluse further and further into the wall, the ceiling above them started to slowly crumble. 

Van noticed the pursuit extensions shift and slide. Reacting, Van instantly makes Einherjar rip the extensions off of Kilos' shoulders. Letting go of his grasp on Cluse, Van allowed Kilos to gain a moment to react as well. Kilos boosted into the air, releasing its blade and descending back upon Einherjar. Einherjar turn boosted and drew its blade to Kilos' to parry. Van continued to yell and roar furiously inside Einherjar's cockpit. He grew tense and livid, invigorating Einherjar's power.

Cluse pulled away and slashed back down again trying to catch Van off guard. Van smashed his energy blade against his opponent's blade repeatedly until Kilos struggled to keep its arm forward. In a quick leaping strike, the Einherjar swiped the left arm off of Kilos. Cluse was left unarmed and out of ammo. He was helpless.

"You're done Cluse! You hear me!"

Cluse chuckled. "Yet I haven't even begun. I'll let you in on a secret like any devious villain would. Zion wasn't just making my Alliance upgraded parts. They had created a transformation mechanism. This Ac is not technically a core. It is a flawless series of perfected ideas, weapons and revolutionized technology. It is the perfect war machine. Let me demonstrate by destroying more than just this sector, but this wretched waste of space you call a city." Cluse explained, laughing maniacally. 

Van gasped with the dropping of his jaw. He felt an incredible force in front of him, a force that could not be controlled. His body suddenly changed from a sweating, heavy breathing and shakiness state to a calm, collected and concentrated one. Van grew calm with the uneasiness of a newfound weakness in his own self. Valkyrie watched him, mumbling obscenities as she watched Cluse's Ac turn into a massive beast. Van was focused, ready and willing. He turned his head, looking at Valkyrie through the corner of his eye. He looked determined, and it was obvious he had something planned.

"I hate to put you at risk Val, but I can't let you out either." Van explained. Valkyrie nodded, knowing she is much safer in the cockpit. "This is my kind of fight, the odds are most definitely against me. It took both of our Ac's to defeat the prototype. Now I have to stop a giant dragon from destroying my home town."

Valkyrie sighed, lifting her hand towards his and grasping the back of it with a smile. "I trust you. I know we'll make it." Van's eyes shifted strangely, looking forward. Her touch was strange and yet, very comforting.

Van examined the mass of machinery before the Einherjar. Kilos had transformed into a dragon shaped mecha. Its head was sleek and sharp and sloped down into a point. Two glowing green eye sensors watched the Einherjar. Its back was a series of chained armor, falling like an arc and dividing into three sections. The middle, becoming the waist. The side parts sticking out the back of the dragon and spreading like wings, the chain armor dividing to make the wings resemble a series of magnificent feathers. The waist was covered in armor. The tail of the dragon was a giant fan of armor that fell from the back of its waist. It's legs were the floating legs of the Kilos set up vertically. It looked beautiful, yet its purpose is the exact opposite.

"Fulfill your destiny Raven…" Cluse said, his voice distorted as if he was injured.

"What destiny do you claim I have?" Van said with an interested tone.

"The destiny of every Raven, to be overpowered, to be victimized. You may be the most efficient out there, but you will fall just as the rest did. Just as I did. Your life ends here by the claws of the Mars dragon!" Cluse said, his voice still distorted. 

"I'm not a Raven anymore Cluse, I retired." Van stated.

Valkyrie jumped out of her seat. "You'll regret what you've done in spite of yourself Cluse! You think you have an idea on what your destiny is, Van will show you your fate!" 

Cluse chuckled. "I would worry about the fate looking into your faces right now!"

The dragon leapt forward, lunging its spear shaped head toward Einherjar's core. The dragon's wings closed backwards, propelling it even more than its legs had. The Einherjar turn boosted and dashed backwards, sending the dragon's spearhead into a wall. Einherjar continued to boost backwards, shooting round after round from its rifle into the white armor of Mars, the dragon. Mars slowly lifted its head out of the wall, causing a circle of debris around its head to fall out of the wall and onto the ground. It turned quickly, taking quick steps to wind its way down the corridor towards Van. The tail flapped and bent around a corner the Einherjar boosted around. The cockpit shook drastically. Van realized he was in a dead end when he backed up his Ac into a wall. He pulled the Einherjar out of it, shooting more rounds off and kneeling down. The dragon lifted its feet off the ground, pushing itself through the air towards Van. 

Einherjar's grenade launcher fell against its shoulder, and with a loud thump the grenade round was shot through the street towards Mars. The grenade hit the knee of Mars' leg, causing the dragon to shake slightly yet remain aloft. Another shot rang out, colliding into the left wing of the dragon. The dragon barrel rolled into the street, close to where Einherjar was open to attack in its kneeling position. The dragon lifted itself up with its tail. It arched its neck back and a laser shot out from its eye, blowing the Einherjar's grenade launcher off its shoulder. Van roared, igniting his aura boosters and overboosting right into the dragon. The Einherjar tackled Mars' head and pushed it forward, pulling its body with it. The dragon tried to struggle away, but the power of the aura was too intense to overcome. 

The Einherjar tackled the dragon onto its back, leapt backwards into the air off Mars' chest and fired a few rounds into its stomach. Van shook his controls a bit, staying aloft in the air and continuously unleashing a cloud of bullets toward the mecha. The dragon's armor started to twist and blacken under the heat of the attack. The air above Mars' structure was blurred and wavy from the heat rising from the armor. Van landed the Einherjar down slowly, floating above the ground with its boosters, shutting them off and letting the Ac land on its feet. Van watched Mars rise from the ground, leaving some sort of concrete snow angel shaped like a dragon with one wing behind. 

"You're pretty good for a retired Raven, but you don't understand the potential of the aura option. Just watch!" Cluse yelled ferociously, his voice cracking in the transmission. Van grew weary, watching the dragon become illuminated by a white aura of energy bursting out of its vents. The dragon boosted into the air and unleashed a barrage of aura-infused laser missiles toward Einherjar. 

"Damn!" Van said as he clutched his controls and turn boosted his Ac. The Einherjar leapt into the air and turned about, dodging a few laser missiles. Another barrage of laser missiles fired, and Van was defenseless, his turn boosters were still charging up their lost energy. One struck his arm with minor damage, another disabled his turn boosters and the others collided with Einherjar's core. Van and Valkyrie held on tight as the cockpit shook and a damage report appeared in the corner of the hub screen. Minor damage to the arm, but quite a few armor points gone from the damage to the core's outside.

Mars stayed afloat, opening its mouth to release a breath of laser shots and plasma shots. The shots spread around Einherjar's feet quickly until Van boosted into the air. The Einherjar activated its sword as it closed in on Mars. Mars noticed Einherjar's incoming and used the wing he still had left to guard itself from the oncoming attack. The Einherjar pulled its arm back as if beginning to strike, but lifted its foot instead. It landed on the wing of the dragon and boosted higher, rolling behind Mars. Van turned the Einherjar around with the only working turn booster it had and swung its blade around, chopping its blade off of its back with a wide slash. In combination, Van stabbed Einherjar's energy blade through the head of the dragon, forcing it into the ground in a bright fury of sparks and electricity. The beast's armor stretched, twisted and broke under the furious red energy slicing through its spine. A blast of smoke and dirt whirled out from their position. The area was covered in a gray cloud, lit by small bolts of electricity inside. The slight blur of the Einherjar's red aura faded away.

The smoke cleared away and the dirt still crawled along the floor. The Einherjar looked down at its victim, a giant and helpless machine with a dead pilot. Rain poured down onto the ruins of the street around their feet. Einherjar's frame was a little fragmented, and was missing some parts. Van sighed, leaning back into his chair and closing his eyes. Valkyrie had latched onto him tightly. He patted her shoulder and held his hand against her back, looking at his screen. A small window opened up labeled 'crisis report, few survivors'. He turned the Ac around, and headed back to the BOC building.

Van would later find out Lynn was nowhere to be found. Nobody even knew of her existence. She was erased, absolutely gone and washed away in a single moment. Van blamed himself. He made protected her last time and sacrificed his Ac to do so. He would not hesitate to do it again. He had so many regrets, like how he felt he should have evaded his enemy and went off to protect Lynn instead of fight. He thought of many things he should have done. One thing remained certain…she was gone. He could have seen her when she came to the hospital, but he was asleep. He could have seen her one last time. He could have saved her. He sat down in the Einherjar's cockpit and let out a long sigh. He looked to his left, looking into Valkyrie's eyes. They talked for hours, just like Van and Lynn did.

Van decided to leave the city and search for every last member of the Alliance. He was going to really end the war between the planets. He was going to eliminate the fear in everyone's heart. He felt it was his duty, and his obligation to do so. So, he left Eyelet City and headed towards Zearm Desert around the time winter came. A fierce snowstorm had hit the desert, blowing away the yellow, grainy sand into a white fluff of snow. 

The constant memories of his past were in his head. The thought of Lynn's death horrified him so much. He had too much time to think. He started to send messages to Valkyrie. She had always admired his reputation in the field. So her interest pushed her into conversation.

"I've seen you defeat three Acs alone, I've seen you destroy a war machine single handedly, and I've watched you grow stronger every day. How did you become so strong?" Valkyrie asked.

Van watched his transmission box, sitting inside the Einherjar. Ein stood beside a tall ruined tower, covered in frost. Van continued to move his Ac so its joints wouldn't freeze. "Experience I guess."

"So how many missions have you had?" She asked.

"I couldn't tell you, but it's more than what you've heard I am sure." Van replied.

"What was one you have always remembered, the one you almost didn't make it out of. The one you had met your match in?" Valkyrie asked, really curious about his history as a pilot.

Van would smile…but all he did was exhale instead. "There is one I had to fight an old friend of mine…he was as tough as they come in the arena, and in any mission. One day I got an e-mail from Emeraude…"


	6. Memory Ignition

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Armored core: Overboost Destiny

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-Chapter 6- Memory Ignition

Mail to Yavangel Cross…

We have recently acquired information about a weapon being developed in a Zio Matrix storage facility to the Northwest. The power of the weapon is too great to allow it to exist, so we are looking for your help on this matter. Infiltrate the storage facility and destroy the weapon and anyone that stands in your way. Additionally, another Raven has been hired for the job, but by a rogue terrorist faction resembling the likes of the Indies. If contact is made with their client, destroy the Raven as well, an additional reward will be given to you. Good luck.

"Almost like they want me to come in…guess I'll take the invitation." Van said, shifting Einherjar forward.

The long column of the underground facilities walls stretched up and up, covered by an iron skeleton to hold it together, along with ladders and walls made out of metal. They gave it this polygonal shape that stretched up to the door entryway. The door's jaw splitting it in the center shook violently for a moment, and then started to separate. The door to the shaft opened, making a bright glow of sunlight cover its floor. The Einherjar leapt into the middle of the sunlight, its shadow growing bigger and bigger as it fell to the base of the shaft. As Einherjar landed, the ground shattered under its feet and a cloud of dust covered its hull. Before him on the screen, Van examined a long and dark corridor lit by a few linear lights where the walls met the ceiling, and where they met the floor. Van moved his Ac through the hall, noticing a door at the end of it. As he neared it, an announcement came over his transmission. 'Warning. Intruder detected, defenses operational, attack on sight.'

As Van send a signal to the door to make it open, a horde of Mt units has entered the room in front of him. When the door was fully open, he entered the room and noticed his enemies. Einherjar then strafe boosted to the left, firing several rifle rounds into the group of attackers. The gunshots collide with a few muscle tracers, making the impact zone the tail of a booster flame, throwing them in the opposite direction with its boost. They collided with walls or pillars and engulfed a dozen more units in flames, making them inoperable. Van narrowed his eyes.

"Hey Lynn? Where's this weapon located?" He asked, looking at two elevator doors on the opposite side of the room.

Lynn's radio transmission appeared on his screen. "Emeraude says it is in the center of the facility," Lynn stopped, looking for more information on her map screen that detailed the facility. "It should be a few floors down. Use the left elevator."

Ein strafe boosted to the left through the air. When Van fully faced the horde, he stopped Einherjar's boosters and landed it gracefully onto its feet. Einherjar knelt down onto its knees, dropping the grenade launcher onto its shoulder and firing a grenade into the middle of the horde. A tremendous explosion covered his enemies, and all that Van could see was smoke. He flipped Einherjar's overboosters on, and gripped his controls. The Einherjar overboosted forward into the dark gray cloud of smoke. He could feel charges of electricity floating in the air around him.

The flame of the Einherjar's overboosters began to clear the smoke out of the room by pushing it into the vents. Van ignited Ein's turn boosters periodically, circling the room. The smoke turned into a dissipating whirl of the wind created from the boosters. Van noticed a few enemies left, and overboosted straight for them. He fired his rifle at one as he passed, and tackled another into a wall, crushing it with his Ac's weight.

Van turn boosted to face the center of the room, where the last enemy stood. It raised its cannon and lifted its reverse joint legs to turn towards the Einherjar. The cannon's inner shaft started to glow. Quickly, a blaze of machinegun fire jumped out of it toward Einherjar. Van Overboosted toward the Mt and released Ein's energy blade. Ein pulled its left arm towards its chest, and swung it to it's left, slashing the blade through the muscle tracers canopy shell. Ein turn boosted around, utilizing a turning slash technique.

The Einherjar strafe boosted to its right, and before he knew it, Van had run his Ac into a wall. Something wasn't right, Van thought.

"Van! There is an Ac on the opposite side of that wall!" Lynn explained.

Ein boosted forward, throwing his rifle to his right, only to face his opposition with a bazooka barrel to its scope-eye. Van examined his enemy. It was an Ac called Red Knight. A large, red and black heavyweight mecha armed with a bazooka, energy shield and pursuit missiles. The Ac's pilot was a woman named Cass. Van and her had taken a few missions together as tank pilots.

Her transmission appeared. "You aren't getting passed me Van."

Van sneered. "You can't hold me back with that giant hunk of junk Knight, I could easily go around you."

"With a barrel to your head?" Cass said, laughing after.

Ein turn boosted to the right and pulled its energy blade with it, slashing the end of the bazooka barrel off. The barrel pieces fell to the floor, causing it to tremble. 

Cass gasped. "I see why you're so highly regarded now. I never remember you being clever enough to use your resources."

Back in the present, Van modified the cockpit's temperature, noticing the change in temperature from the outside on the inside of Einherjar. He checked temperature gauges, making sure the temperature maintenance systems were online so his Ac wouldn't freeze. 

Van noticed he stopped telling the story. "Oh, sorry I had to check the gauges."

"It is all right, how is Einherjar?" Valkyrie asked.

"Good as new, just as she's always been." Van answered. He shifted in his seat, looking out at the horizon. A peaceful haze of snow drifted slowly before Ein.

"So Cass was hired by Zio to defend the weapon? What are the odds." Valkyrie commented.

Van shook his head. "No, she was hired to kill me. I was already a threat to Zio by then. They probably didn't want another Raven messing up their plans."

"So she was your match? You're equal?" Valkyrie asked. Van nodded. He thought about Valkyrie for a moment, remembering the last time he saw her.

"Well, yeah. She was a lot tougher than I ever will be." Van said, letting out a deep sigh.

"What happened next?" Val asked. She seemed interested. 

Van looked at the radio transmission box, reading her question a few times after hearing it. "We fought for a long time, eventually both of our cores had had it. I had an injury too. Another Raven joined the fight. It must have been a new partner of hers because he came right after me. Oddly enough, I took him out and before he died he took her out too. He said it was what he wanted, and what he was ordered to do. I think they were in love…"

"How romantically sad…" Valkyrie added.

"Romantic? How could anyone kill someone they love? Even if they believe they'll end up together again, I can't see how someone could just end the other's life." Van yelled frustratingly.

"I'm sorry…" Valkyrie apologized.

"It's fine I'm sorry I yelled," Van said as quick as he could. "I wish I knew how she reacted to things. I wish I could have seen her face more." Valkyrie was fighting herself from crying. Van suddenly got the distinct feeling something wasn't right. Something was missing from his train of thought. He looked on the situation quickly, feeling a strong resemblance between the voices of Lynn and Valkyrie. "You know, you remind me of her."

Valkyrie was a little surprised. "What do you mean?" She replied quickly as if in a rush to know the answer.

"She'd always talk to me when I'd travel…she'd always ask me questions about things," Van stopped to laugh for a second. "Even though she already knew most of the stories already."

"I wish…I wish I knew her more too. I wish I had met her." Valkyrie said, sighing softly.

"Me too Val…Me too…" Van noted, noticing a structure in the distance.

"You see something?" Valkyrie asked.

Van nodded, pressing a few buttons to open a window on his screen that zoomed in on the structure. It looked like the top of skyscrapers sticking out of the ground. Some had a strange angle and some were pushed out of the ground higher than others. Van recognized the area. He noticed another large structure behind it. A broken down cargo space ship had crashed behind it and inside a small light was burning. "I see the ruins, and a broken down ship too. Looks like someone is inside…" Van moved the Einherjar across the cold desert's mix of snow and sand. 

"So was there any other friends of yours that you had to fight against on the battlefield?" She asked.

"Yeah. It is an interesting story actually. I was assigned to ambush a team of ravens who planned on attacking an Emeraude outpost nearby Scissors Forest. My old colleague Phoenix had recognized my voice as I was fighting him and his teammate. He turned his back on his ally and helped me protect the outpost from then on for a few months. He became a respected Emeraude pilot, just as I had." Van told her. He remembered the conversations he had with Phoenix during those few months.

"So he was like you?" Valkyrie figured.

"I guess you could say that. He was a highly ranked Emeraude raven. We had a lot of missions together until he disappeared. He was on a mission in space and supposedly left out there. I was told he betrayed Emeraude forces."

Ein stepped closer and closer to the cargo ship. Van zoomed in once again, examining the fire inside the ship. Van had thought the ship might have just crashed, and it was still burning. Van realized someone was inside the ship, living there. He seen movement inside, and noticed a single person standing close to a window, looking at the Einherjar.

"Oh my god…" Van uttered.

Valkyrie sunk fast, wondering what was wrong. "What is it?" She asked.

Van recognized the person, and realized a very familiar Ac was nested inside the ship. It was an old friend. "Phoenix…"


	7. Zearm December

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Armored core: Overboost Destiny

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-Chapter 7- Zearm December

The Einherjar stepped toward the ruins, watching the white Emeraude model broken down before it. Van looked about the Einherjar cockpit's instruments, checking for vital signs, energy gauges and danger zones. Leaning toward a small screen that popped up before his eyes, Van studies the forms and colors on it. 

"Two Armored Cores…one human…and several areas of this structure are contaminated by energy radiation. It looks like the generator to whatever this ruin used to be had some sort of leakage. Most of the areas infected are right around the generator." Van said, studying the wire-frame map of the area around him on his screen. "These rooms seem to have cracks or holes in their walls that connect them to the generator room too. I'm amazed whoever this is could still be alive."

Valkyrie sighed softly. "If there are two armored cores and one person, where is the other person?"

Van narrowed his eyes. "One of the cores belongs to an old colleague named Phoenix…but that person isn't Phoenix, it looks like a woman. I'll run a scan on the other AC." He said, flipping a few switches and inputting commands into a soft paneled keyboard before him. Van, waiting for the data to stream into Einherjar's computer, taps his finger on the side of the keyboard. With a sigh, he runs his other hand forward through his hair. A small chirping signal grabs Van's attention toward the screen, where a new window popped up, displaying schematics and information on the AC and pilot. "The pilot, and that girl in there, is Maria Gavitross. Her AC is 'Heaven's Blaze'. I've seen her somewhere before."

"If she's sickened and your friend Phoenix is nowhere to be found, you better hurry up and check it out." Valkyrie explained.

"Cluse could be anywhere around here though…" Van noted to himself, carefully moving the Einherjar towards the ruins. 

Van leapt into the ruins from the open cockpit of the Einherjar. He wore a second layer of white clothing that covered his entire body. His eyes were visible through orange goggles. The suit he had on was thermal gear, necessary for rough weather conditions like these. Van moved further into the shattered ruins of the old structure, trying to listen for any sounds of movement aside from the roar of the wind and snow hitting the other side of the walls. Not too far in, Van heard a faint shout. He turned around, only to witness Maria holding a gun toward him a few steps away.

"Don't move! Who the hell are you!" She yelled over the sound of the weather.

Van looked at her calmly. He pulled the suit's clothing away from his face, pulling his goggles away from his eyes and hanging them around his neck. "Where's Phoenix?"

Her hands shook. Van looked at them and quickly noticed their almost decayed look. Either they were frost bitten, or this is what the radiation causes. The rest of her body besides her face was covered in brown clothing that was ripped in some places, exposing her tight body suit beneath. "You don't give a damn where the hell he is, you just want to kill me and my baby!"

Shocked, Van noticed her stomach was round and protruding. He looked into her face. "Phoenix was my friend, and I have no intention of killing you, or your child miss. Just put the gun down, I'm here to help."

"You liar!" She yelled. "They hired you didn't they, they hired you to finish the job! Well you go to hell!" She yelled, pulling the trigger of the gun. Van shook for a second before he realized all the gun did was click. It was empty.

"Listen miss, where is Phoenix so I can take both of you to the nearest health center. Do you realize the amount of danger you're in here?" Van asked.

She shook her head, falling to her knees and dropping her gun. "Phoenix got too sick…he couldn't make it any longer. I told him he didn't have to save more food for me. I knew someone was coming soon." Maria said, sobbing into her scabby, decaying hands. "That was a month ago…"

"What all happened? Show me where you put his body…" Van said, helping her stand. They started to walk through small corridors as she led him to the resting-place of his old friend.

Phoenix was given a mission to eliminate a hostile Raven destroying Emeraude forces in Zearm Desert. The raven was Maria. With no luck whatsoever, they fought in a harsh snowstorm that overwhelmed the desert. Supposedly the snowfall covering the desert sand was some experiment on weather control. Both of their armored core's broke down, and they were stranded in these ruins. They found food, and have survived on it for a year. After coming to grips with their need to survive, they fell in love. This led to Maria getting pregnant of course. As the food ran out, Phoenix tried his best to keep Maria alive by cutting down his food intake to almost nothing at all. With the sickness, his body deteriorated slowly. His body devoured itself, and Maria watched it every step of the way. The limbs went first, she explained. Then his chest cavity started to fall into itself and divide. During this, his rib cage popped open like a broken bears trap and pulled apart all of his organs that were fusing to bone. Van almost grew sick, she was being so descriptive.

Van patted down the last pile of snow with the shovel Phoenix had made out of a stick and a sheet of debris that broke off of Phoenix's core 'Emma'. Phoenix's grave was a nook halfway exposed to the outside weather that calmed down to a silent breeze and a haze of flurries. Van used another sheet of debris and a rifle to make a cross. As Van finished, he stood at the foot of his friend's grave, sliding a patch displaying Phoenix's emblem of a firebird under the snow.

"If only this Phoenix could rise from his ashes too…" Van uttered. "I'll make sure Maria and your child make it…I promise you they will." 

The sound of boosters igniting echoed from the distance. Just then, the Earth rumbled and shook. Ravens, Van thought. Van rushed into the ruins toward the upper level. After leaping up the staircase, he looked out a nearby window to see Maria's Ac boosting towards another. "That must be Cluse…damn, Maria!" Van yelled, running off in the direction of Einherjar's cockpit.

Maria, struggling to hold on to her controls, dives toward the AC. Then, Cluse's voice came over her screen. It was still hoarse and painful as before, like his body was torn apart. "Who do you think you are! How dare you face me you pathetic excuse for a raven!"

Maria screamed. "You're the one that left me here to die! You're the one that allowed Phoenix to die!"

Cluse laughed. "Phoenix? Don't tell me you fell for one of the enemy…" Cluse listened, hearing sobbing on the other line of the communication. "You did didn't you? I would have slaughtered that piece of shit either way baby. You would've done the same."

"Shut up!" Maria screamed, released the blade of her Ac and slashing it toward Cluse's. 

Cluse laughed again. "My Zearus core is too quick for that!" He proclaimed, boosting Zearus backwards. Releasing two similar blades from each hand of his AC, Cluse boosted forward again when Heaven's Blaze's blade was lowered. He drove the blades into the shoulders of Maria's core, pushing its reverse jointed legs down under the weight of them, making them bend. Cluse then boosted forward, dragging Heaven's Blaze along the ground. Quickly, the legs of Maria's core snapped off and her core slide from Zearus's blades, falling helplessly to the ground. Zearus hovered over Maria's core, beginning to drop its blades down onto her core. The Einherjar stepped over Heaven's Blaze, drawing its blade upward to meet Zearus's. The blades met, creating a bright flash and shimmers of electricity in the air. The Einherjar lifted its rifle up, pressing its barrel into Zearus's core, firing round after round.

The rifle fire pushed Zearus away, forcing it to land away from Maria and Van's position. Einherjar stepped out from over Heaven's Blaze. "Maria," Van said. "Boost your way as far into the ruins as possible. Hide yourself, you just risked two lives! I don't want to see the unthinkable happen, now get out of here!" Van commanded. He raised his rifle again, firing again and again at Zearus, who strafed away to dodge each one. Van drew his blade again and turn boosted in full circle as Zearus came into short range with him. Lifting Einherjar's energy blade out, Van made his Ac perform a slashing hurricane technique. His blade gave Zearus a thick gash across its arm, making it barely operable.

Zearus and the Einherjar boosted away from each other. Cluse smashed his hand against his cockpit controls. "Damn! This pathetic insect still has the nerve to face me! Me!" He yelled.

Van, grinding his teeth, examined all of his screen's components. He wiggled his fingers around and took a deep breath, watching as a radio transmission appeared on his screen. "Van! I'm on my way! Just hold out until I get there and we can both take him on!"

Cluse laughed. "I don't think so lady, your boy is going to be dead by then!" Cluse said. He yelled, drawing out his mecha's two laser blades from its hands. Zearus then boosted forward and slashed both of them at the Einherjar at once. The Einherjar parried one of the blades, watching the other arm of Zearus being pulled forward. The blade, malfunctioning from the hurricane attack before, dissipates just as it's hand hits Einherjar's armor. The hand, suddenly glowing with a bright blue energy, releases a giant burst of electricity from it. The burst throws the Einherjar off balance and through the air toward the ruins.

Van shouts, trying to get the Einherjar to respond. "Oh no," He uttered, watching as his screens went black. "That shorted my systems out…"

Then, in a bright flash of energy lit up the screen of Van's cockpit. Zearus had released a giant blast of energy towards the Einherjar, which was thrown into the ruins. The energy blast ripped half of the ruins apart, leaving the end where Phoenix's grave was completely intact. Cluse watched and waited for the smoke and debris to subside. 

"Van!" Valkyrie roared, landing her white lightweight core nearby. She examined the area, noticing there was only one thing operative in the area beside herself. Zearus…


	8. Overboost Destiny

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Armored core: Overboost Destiny

__

-Chapter 8- Overboost Destiny

"It's so dark…I can't see anything. Where am I?" Van mumbles, trying to focus his eyes. He flinches, hearing a faint voice in the distance. Suddenly, his vision flashes white, and he kneels. He looks down at the ground and then up at the ground before him. Water clouds his feet that rest on a white field of grass. Van stands, looking up into the blue sky before he realizes a young woman stands in the distance.

"Van…" She whispers. A soft gust of winds blows her shoulder length hair up. Van walks towards her, as he does the field of grass begins to turn green and colorful. The sky becomes littered with white puff nimbus clouds and seagulls that caw during flight. The woman's white colored body is now covered in a white bed sheet, and her skin's color appeared out of nowhere. She turns toward him slowly, her eyes glowing like the sunlight on a summer day. Van covers his eyes quickly, shrouding them from the brightness. Her eyes close slowly for him.

"You came…" She says, holding the sheets around her at her chest. "I didn't think you were going to after all of that. But I'm glad…"

Van uncovered his face, dropping his arm. He remembered those words. He knew that woman. It was Lynn. He remembered the day the met, when they sat down and she said those exact words to him. Van narrowed his eyes. "I healed up pretty quick…"

"Yeah, you really did well…" She mumbled, looking down at the ground.

Van watched her silently. She was just the way he remembered her. He found it odd to be visited by such a dream. Is it a dream, he asked himself. He didn't know. He was just happy to see her though. There was something else he couldn't ignore about her. Her hair color was that of Valkyrie's. 

Right then, it hit him. Valkyrie had been so familiar. The one thing Van remembered was the way Lynn smelled. Valkyrie smelled the exact same way when he helped her to the hospital. Lynn and Valkyrie were the same person. Lynn nodded slowly, and with a smile she says, "You're right. I didn't die. You need to ask me who I really am."

Van dropped to his knees, his body shivering and aching from all of his pain. The grass turned white, the sky became completely blue, and then everything went black. All he heard was the sound of his breathing.

Valkyrie's Ac was almost obvious standing on the top of a ruined building as it was. Zearus spotted her almost immediately without looking at his radar. "Our job is done…" Cluse said, walking towards the building she stood atop.

"He's dead?" She asked. She tried to not sound worried, and it worked. She wiped the tears from her face and remembered to breath. Her hands shook more and more. She closed the transmission and lowered her face, beginning to cry.

"I've already checked the area for any vital signs…wait a minute." He said, looking at his sensors. "Oh, the energy radiation from the ruins." Cluse said. His cockpit shook, and as he looked down, he noticed a giant hole had been ripped through the bottom part of his armored core's torso. He turned around, watching as the Einherjar stood, dropping the shoulder grenade launcher against it's back. 

"Wrong." Van said, making the Einherjar run toward Zearus with it's energy blade drawn. "That energy reaction from my grenade just ripped your core a new asshole."

Zearus shouted, boosting towards Einherjar. Van roared, flipping the aura option on and igniting his Ac's overboosters. The Einherjar was boosted forward at incredible speeds. It's feet left the ground as it soared across the snowfield towards Zearus. The Einherjar tackled Zearus and thrusted it's energy blade into the chest of the leader Ac of the Alliance. Zearus's structure collapsed and shattered across the ground. The debris and energy from inside the core exploded before it rolled across the ground. The Einherjar stopped, still holding the upper half of Zearus. Ein pointed the barrel of it's rifle directly at the head of Zearus and fired, blowing the forehead and eye sensors of it right off. 

Ein dropped his opponent and stood above what was left of it. Van breathed heavily, letting his firm grip on his controls loose. "Can a dead person do that?" Van asked him.

Cluse didn't reply. His cockpit was shattered into several pieces, and his chair was probably in the middle of Einherjar's booster flame.

Van looked up at Valkyrie's core. "Lynn…"

"How did you…" She asked.

Van shook his head and interrupted, saying "Forget how I know! Tell me what went on right now!"

She nodded. "The alliance has been around a lot longer than you would expect. I was your watcher, the person who was supposed to guide you to where you were supposed to be."

"What?" Van asked.

"Nerves concord never had anything to do with your missions. You were employed by the alliance to do jobs no other Raven could do. I was your operator because I was the one who suggested you to Antares, who led this whole thing before you changed sides and killed him. Cluse was the next most experienced pilot. We knew about Hustler One, you and I were test subjects for the prototype core we fought at Colnart. Cluse wanted to get rid of you after you tried to stop him from destroying that building you thought I was in."

"You were in that building!" Van replied. Afterward he groaned.

"I told you I was in the building so you would defeat Cluse then. I didn't know he already installed the prototype inside part. I'm sorry Van. I'm sorry you thought she was dead…" Valkyrie explained. She waited for a reply. "Van?" She asked, waiting for him to say something again. "Van!"

"Lynn…don't worry about me, go find Maria…" Van said in a soft voice.

The hatch of Einherjar's cockpit opened and she jumped into it, dressed in a tight black suit and helmet. Van leaned forward in his chair, holding his shoulder. The inside of the cockpit was beat up and full of holes. A shard of an energy shell was broken all over around Van. His arm and chest were covered in blood, and his head hung unconsciously.

"Van…"

"Van…"

"Van, I love you…" Lynn's voice whispered. 

"Van, get better so you can see my beautiful baby!" Maria said. "Thank you Van, if it wasn't for you, my son and I would be dead. Phoenix would be proud."

"Van, I've had feelings for you ever since we first met. I love you Van. I'm sorry for what I did. I'm sorry for not telling you. I just want you to wake up…I want to hear your voice again." Lynn said.

**__**

Mail to Yavangel from the Earth Government-

It has recently been revealed to us that your involvement with the coupe de grace known as "The Alliance" was merely involuntary. As an experienced Raven, we ask of your assistance in a matter involving an interplanetary organization involving a peace keeping unit of qualified Ravens. This organization will hunt down any terrorist anti-planet group and proceed in keeping the new "Sister Planet" Treaty between Earth and Mars true to it's terms. We want you to be part of the board that will command this new military regiment. 

And also…congratulations on your recent marriage. The governments of Earth and Mars wish you a happy future with your wife and your expected son. We await your reply…

****

Reply to Earth Government from Yavangel-

_I accept…_


End file.
